The Two Mr Brices
by FlaFan
Summary: On overtime, Johnny gets confused about whom he's working with. Inspired by the very different-looking Craig Brice who became a captain in "Greatest Rescues of Emergency."


**The Two Mr. Brices**

 _On overtime, Johnny gets confused about whom he's working with. Inspired by the very different-looking Craig Brice who became a captain in "Greatest Rescues of Emergency."_

Los Angeles County Fire Station 36 wasn't that far from, or that different than, John Gage's home Station 51.

So the young paramedic didn't expect too many in-house surprises from his overtime firefighting duty.

"How are ya, Cap?" he asked Captain Tim Gilroy.

"Good to see you, Gage," Gilroy responded. Johnny detected a gleam in the veteran captain's eye.

"Johnny!" Bob Bellingham, one of 36's paramedics, came to say hello.

"Hey, Bob!" replied Johnny, careful to avoid Bellingham's grease-stained towel. For Bellingham, known as "The Animal," neatness was not a strong suit.

Johnny noticed that Bellingham had an amused expression, similar to that of the captain. "What's goin' on?" Johnny asked.

Bellingham chuckled. "You'll see," he said. "How's everyone at 51's? I heard you got Chet Kelly 3 times with that car wax trick."

"Oh, yeah…..Well, sometimes even 'The Phantom' has his bad days," said Johnny with a grin. "Where's Brice?"

At that, both Gilroy and Bellingham burst out laughing.

Johnny frowned. "What…." he began.

He was interrupted by a tall, unfamiliar African-American man with a mustache. Gilroy stopped his laughter long enough to introduce him. "Carl Hicks is on vacation. Meet our temporary engineer, Gage."

Johnny smiled and reached forward to shake the other man's hand. "Welcome to Station 36," he said. "I'm John Gage. I'm also on temporary duty here; I'm usually a paramedic at 51's."

"Nice to meet you, John," said the other man with a deep voice and smile. "I'm Craig Brice. My regular home is Station 17."

"I'm…uh…what did you say?" Johnny stammered.

"My name's Craig Brice." The engineer kept his smile. "Yep, same name."

Johnny's draw dropped and he continued to stammer. "Yeah….uh….you…..uh, where is Brice? I mean, Brice the paramedic?"

"He's in the day room, Johnny – I swear!" Bellingham said.

Now Brice the engineer began to laugh.

"I know it's weird – I was as astonished as you when I met him," he said.

"Huh," said Johnny, and made his way toward the day room, overcome by a feeling he'd never had before – a wish to see Craig Brice, the paramedic, in person.

He was not disappointed. "Gage. Good to have you join us for this shift," Brice the paramedic greeted him.

"Uh, good to see you, Brice – say, the other Craig Brice-" Johnny began.

"I know. Very unusual," Brice nodded. "I'm interested in looking up the odds of two people in the same workplace having the same name."

"Yeah, I guess that's one way of approaching it," Johnny said. He frowned and turned back to Gilroy, who was entering the room with the engineer. "Cap, on an emergency where both the squad and the engine are involved, how are you going to deal with this?"

"Simple," Gilroy replied. He looked at the engineer. "This is Engine Brice. That's Squad Brice," he added, motioning at the paramedic.

"Huh," Johnny looked between the two. This was going to get interesting, he was sure. "Man, I need some coffee."

E!E!E!E!E!E!E!

Johnny had time to take two sips of coffee before the tones sounded.

"Station 36, structure fire, Main and Del Amo. Main and Del Amo. Time out, 8:15."

Gilroy acknowledged the call. Johnny quickly put on his turnouts and took his seat on the Ward LaFrance engine behind the captain.

When they reached the scene, Gilroy directed his crew. "Gage, Mahaffey, pull an inch-and-a-half." Johnny worked with Dave Mahaffey, the other lineman, as Engineer Brice monitored the water.

A security guard ran up to Gilroy. "I still have a guy missing in the building." He gave the details to the captain.

Gilroy didn't waste any time. "Bellingham, Squad Brice, there's a man inside the building! Gage, Mahaffey, cover them!"

Squad Brice, as he was currently known, took the line in back of Johnny, who pushed forward, while Bellingham took the same stance in back of Mahaffey and Gilroy pushed in back of them. When the linemen had knocked the immediate fire down, the two paramedics went forward.

Even as Johnny focused on knocking the fire down, it seemed a lifetime for his own natural rescue instincts until he heard, "Got him!" from Bellingham.

As Bellingham and Squad Brice took the victim out, Johnny again made sure to focus on his firefighting work. He, Gilroy and Mahaffey managed to contain the fire and yielded to the incoming Station 112 members for relief.

The three of them went outside and saw Bellingham and Squad Brice engaged in helping the victim. Squad Brice was covering the man's burns and pouring saline.

"Gage, go get the oxygen," Gilroy ordered.

Johnny dropped the line and took over the oxygen from Bellingham, who opened the Biophone.

"Rampart, this is Squad 36," Bellingham began.

"Go ahead 36," came the voice of Dr. Mike Morton.

"Rampart, we've pulled a victim out of a fire. He is suffering from smoke inhalation and has second degree burns, which we're treating," Bellingham continued. "We're going to patch him in."

Bellingham placed the sensors on the man's chest.

"V-fib!" Johnny yelled.

"Engine Brice!" Gilroy called. The engineer came over and took over the oxygen as Johnny began CPR.

Squad Brice pulled the paddles from the defibrillator and put the cream on them. Bellingham pushed the button and waited for 400-watt seconds. "Clear!" he called, and Johnny stopped CPR and Engine Brice took away the oxygen as Squad Brice defibrillated.

No conversion.

They repeated the process again, with the same result.

Bellingham called Rampart. "Squad 36, two amps sodium bicarb," Morton recommended.

While Squad Brice prepared the syringe, Engine Brice looked at Johnny. "Switch?" he asked softly.

Johnny was growing increasingly tired, but he never wanted to give up CPR on a patient, even for a moment.

Gilroy made the decision for him. "Switch with Engine Brice, Gage."

"I got it." Johnny heard the engineer's calm voice behind him, and switched.

They had switched roles for but an instant, when Bellingham called "Clear!"

A brief second….Then, "Sinus rhythm" from Squad Brice and a sigh from everyone else.

Squad 36 transported their patient, who was expected to recover. Johnny joined the rest of the Engine 36 crew on cleanup – probably the one part of firefighting he wasn't too crazy about.

"Hope he'll be OK," Johnny heard from Engine Brice when the cleanup was done.

"I think so," Johnny said. "Man, you guys do work well together." He grinned.

"You, too," said the engineer, returning the smile.

"Unbelievable….Two Brices." Chet Kelly shook his head as Johnny recounted the details to his Station 51 crewmates two days later.

"Yeah, but they really worked well. Captain Gilroy knew exactly how to use 'em and even what to call 'em," Johnny replied.

"Gilroy's a good man. I don't know if I could have kept those two straight in my mind," Captain Hank Stanley said. "I have enough trouble with you guys," he added, with a twinkle in his eye.

"What's Craig Brice the engineer like? Don't tell me we have to worry about two Mr. Perfects," chimed in Roy DeSoto.

"No way. He's a nice guy. He came with his family from Oakland. Brice the paramedic isn't a bad guy - just, as you say, Mr. Perfect," Johnny replied.

"Hmmmm," Roy mumbled, not completely convinced.

"Brice the engineer is an easygoing guy, works well with the crew," Johnny said.

"He came to the county about a month ago. I've met him," Mike Stoker chimed in. "He knows his stuff. Nice guy, too."

Roy shivered. "Still….Having to work with two men with the same name at the same time…..And one of them is Craig Brice."

"No, Roy," Johnny reminded him. " _Both_ of them are Craig Brice."

Roy shook his head. "I think I'm going to get an aspirin," he muttered.

Marco Lopez looked after the paramedic departing from the dayroom. "Somehow, I think when Roy does overtime, he's gonna request one Brice at a time," he joked.


End file.
